


F is for Fraiser

by Princess of Geeks (Princess)



Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: Episode Related, Gen, Missing Scene, Rite of Passage, season 5
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-03-14
Updated: 2010-03-14
Packaged: 2017-10-07 23:40:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 827
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/70451
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princess/pseuds/Princess%20of%20Geeks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A missing scene for "Rite of Passage," in which Fraiser tries to explain her motivations to Hammond.</p>
            </blockquote>





	F is for Fraiser

**Author's Note:**

> Written for an "alphabet soup" tribute to General Hammond, organized on Livejournal in 2008 by Fig Newton.

The knock on the doorjamb of the general's office was not loud, but it was firm. George looked up to see his chief medical officer standing there, shoulders squared and chin high despite the dark circles under her eyes and an indefinable rumpledness about her normally starched and flawless garb.

"Come in, Doctor," he said, putting down his pen and indicating a chair. He'd been trying to catch up on paperwork now that Cassandra was out of danger, and their unwelcome guest had been released to be a pox on someone else's house.

Janet refused the indicated chair, instead taking two steps into the room and remaining at something very close to attention. George raised his eyebrows, but didn't comment on this directly.

He said, "I imagine you've spent the day monitoring Cassandra's condition?"

"I have, sir. There's no sign at all of the retrovirus in her blood, and her fever is completely gone. She's weak, of course, but she's back to normal." A slight smile came and went on Janet's tired face.

"That's good news." George paused, leaving room for more.

Janet pursed her lips for a moment before she spoke, but her voice wasn't hesitant or abashed. "I feel that I owe you an apology, sir. Last night I disobeyed a direct order, and while I think you know why I took the actions I did, the fact remains that I was insubordinate, and for reasons that have nothing to do with my mandate as your medical officer."

"Sit down. Please. Janet."

A frown came and went, slight and fleeting as her previous smile. George had called her by her first name deliberately, and it might well be the first time he'd ever done so in the years they'd worked together. She came forward and sat, spine straight, shoulders sagging only a little.

George folded his hands on his desk. "While you were executing your ... unusually tough negotiating tactics, do you know what SG1 and I were doing?"

"No, sir."

"We were sitting in that conference room right there," and George pointed, "debating what one little girl's life was worth measured next to the potential damage we know, for a fact, that that ... monster ... will do out there." Janet was silent. She drew a breath and let it out, but her steady gaze held George's. "You won't be surprised to know that of the four of them, only Teal'c thought it was worthwhile to risk the almost certain sacrifice of Cassandra's life by letting her illness run its course, rather than bargain for Nirrti to heal her."

Still that steady brown gaze. "Yes, sir."

George paused, reviewing the debate of the day before. He hadn't really been surprised at the tally of votes. Major Carter had grown almost as close to Cassandra as the doctor had, Daniel Jackson would never cold-bloodedly sacrifice the life of a child, and Jack.... George wondered how much Janet knew of Jack's past. No, Jack's impassioned plea for using every trick they had to get Nirrti to help was no surprise either. He sighed, and looked down for a moment. When he looked up again, Janet hadn't moved or changed expression.

"Do you remember when Kinsey's men blackmailed me by kidnapping my grandchildren?"

"I could hardly forget it, sir." Janet pursed her lips, and her formal posture eased just a bit more.

"I don't have to remind you that I make life and death decisions all the time around here. You and your staff are the ones who have to patch together the results of my misjudgments. Yesterday I wanted to kill that Goa'uld with my bare hands. And I wanted to hear from SG1 before I took what might have been a rash action based purely on my emotions. I wanted to hear them say that there was no way we should keep Nirrti here if it meant losing your daughter."

"I'm familiar with the term 'second opinion,' sir," Janet said, and there was that ghost of a smile again.

George smiled, too, just a little, and stood up, and Janet raised her eyebrows and stood as well. "I don't blame you for what you did, Doctor Fraiser. There will be no disciplinary action for insubordination noted in your record. I won't bother to tell you to get some rest, but, you're dismissed."

"Thank you, sir," she said, looking thoughtful, and it seemed for a moment that she would add something, but she swung around and went briskly out the door. George stood there, absently clenching and unclenching his right hand. His arthritis wanted to flare up nowadays after too many hours of signing papers. He listened to the tap-tap-tap of Janet's heels fading down the corridor.

_Each man and woman has to be equally valuable if you're going to make decisions that affect their lives. But you can't help it. You get closer to some people._

He sighed, and sat down again, and picked up his pen.

end.


End file.
